DINK WHISPERER

I have the 73MH and can't even explain in words how much I love it! It can do just about everything. No experience with the 611M but i don't use rods shorter than 7' 2".

Metanium MGL 2020 and Shimano Poison Adrena.

My 2 newest combos. 2020 Metanium MGLs on an Expride 73XH and 72H Adrena.

I am looking for any of you guys that own or have used the 7' 6" XH reg fast Poison Adrena. What do you use it for? Can it handle flipping duties? I need a flipping stick for moderate cover when it's not quite heavy enough to pull the 8-ft punching rod out. What's this one labeled as being for on the handle? For example my 73mh is labeled versatile and my 72h is labeled power versatile. How soft is the tip, being that it is labeled regular fast? I have not been able to find any info or anybody that has one of these. Thanks all

That's why so many brands exist, so there is something for everyone. At one point I was 100% Lew's and Abu reels. Until I had issues and had one of the worst experiences ever with customer service. I got rid of all of them and switched to 13 when they first hit the market. I won't even speak on how many issues I had with those! I finally landed on Shimano and have not had to contact customer service yet for any of their products. But I would not gauge how good they are on whether or not they gave me free parts. I consider parts on a reel to be just like maintenance on my vehicle such as tires and ball joints. I bought them with the understanding that they have wear and tear parts that would eventually go out.

Not.... I've owned many including the lite and just no. QC issues are too common their products. I have one Lew's left that's doing good still and that's the super duty wide spool that I use for big swimbaits. Hang in there buddy I know the feeling! I ruined a couple spools of line before getting it set myself.

The man can't trade in a Lamborghini for a Prius ?

It is very weird indeed. I'm so glad I didn't give up on these though. I absolutely love these reels now!

What finally fixed all of mine was to remove the side plate, turn 2 brake pins on and 2 off. Then remove the spool and loosen the spool tension knob all the way. Now put the spool back in and make sure it's set in there correctly. Put the side plate back on and tighten your spool tension and SVS dial back to match the lure you're throwing. Mine absolutely bomb after doing this! Good luck man....

We just got back from the lake. I cleaned any excess oil from the brake drum and pins. Loosened the spool tension all the way and removed the spool. Replaced the spool and adjusted it to where the side to side wiggle barely stops. Brakes with 2 on 2 off and the brake dial at 6. I was able to turn the dial all the way down to 1 with no backlashes and I was bombing a 1/2oz frog way further than I needed to! We had good action on the frogs so I didn't even get to test the other two yet. I honestly have no idea what was going on or what I did but that one is good now. The one on my punch rod I'm not that worried about since it's a close range technique.

Lol, good one!? I've had them and they feel terrible in my hand. And every one of them grinds the gears after a few months. Hard pass on that one.... Not at all. I've used every Shimano low pro except for the Aldebaran. I just sold 8 Chronarch MGLs and a couple Curado 70 MGLs and switched to all Metaniums. I opened 3 to start with but still have some unopened in the box.

I just came inside from practicing in the backyard. I left the brakes on 2 pins and turned the dial to 6 with the spool tension to where the frog just slowly drops down. No backlash but no distance either. I slowly started turning the dial down until I got to 2 and still no backlash. I was getting about 35 yards. Still not where I want it but it's a lot better. It makes no sense that starting at 6 on the dial and working down made a different. When I started with the dial at 2-3 is was really bad. Mosquitos were killing me so I came back inside. I'm going out to further test on the water tomorrow.

I finally took the XG out that's on my frog rod today. I tried all the adjustments mentioned and it's still not casting far! My spool definitely wiggles around when you loosen the tension knob though. If I just flick it out there it does ok, no backlash. But, if I try to get any distance on it, it immediately blows up! I love the looks and palming feel of this reel so I really want to figure it out. I highly doubt that all of the ones I ordered from 2 different dealers are all defective! I will keep at it....

This kid is on fire!! First the huge peacock last weekend and now this. He's never been able to land a frog fish due to him reacting too fast at the blow up or not a strong enough hookset. Well he's been mentally training for it. Today he begged endlessly to go try his new frog setup. Even though I was exhausted I took him to a quick spot just to say we tried. On the 5th cast across a tiny isolated patch of pads this happened! Another huge catch for my little guy!

Mine has plenty of spool wiggle if I loosen the tension up though. It's still worth checking out at this point.

I'm definitely going to check this out tonight. Although a reel with a price tag like this should not have to be messed with right out of the box! My son uses mostly all SLX XT reels and he has no issues bombing a frog 40 yards or more. It's embarrassing.....

Ok, I removed the side plate and cleaned the drum even though it didn't appear to have any oil on it. The bearing had no "goop" but I added a drop off oil to it. The brakes are functioning and the drum is moving when I turn the dial. And yes I spool my own reels, have been for 30 years no issues. I'm taking the frog setup out after work and see how it goes. Thanks guys

The spool is seated right as far as I can tell. Not sure how the side plate would even fit back on if it wasn't? I spooled them right out of the box without ever even removing the spool.

No side to side play on the spool at all. And there's no way all 3 I've tried so far are all lemons is there? On the frog rod I've tried 3/8oz, 1/2oz and 3/4oz hollow body frogs. On the all purpose Adrena I've thrown literally everything from a 3/8oz T-rig to a 1oz swimbait. Hasn't been windy much here so I'm getting to do this with very minimal breeze. I'm going out again tomorrow afternoon so I guess I'll see what happens.

I always start with 2 blocks on and two off and usually end up leaving it there. That's not helping on this reel at all. I've tried super loose spool and super tight with no difference! Like I said, I've been using bait casting gear for many years. I've used just about everything Shimano has to offer but this has got me pulling my hair out! My Chronarchs had 2 blocks on and the SVS on 1 maybe 2 with no issues. I REALLY want to figure this out because I love everything else about this model.

So after many years of wanting to try high end gear, I'm finally in a position where I can comfortably do so. A couple weeks ago I purchased a few 2020 Metanium MGL reels and I'm extremely disappointed! No matter what I do I can't get more than maybe a 25yd cast out of these things! But most of the time I get an instant birds nest! Now, I'm no stranger to bait casting gear and just switched from the Chronarch MGL to these. I've tried different lines, rods, baits etc and I keep getting the same results. I went to all 4 pins on and the SVS on 4 with the spool tension so tight the bait barely even falls on it's own and same results. So far I've tried 3 out of the ones I ordered and they're all the same. I have one on a 7' 3" XH Expride with 50lb braid as frog setup. One on a 7' 3" MH/RF Poison Adrena with 15lb copoly and one on a 7' 11" Expride XH/MF with 60lb braid. I would greatly appreciate ANY input before I give up on these.....

So proud of my little man today! We've been wanting to take a deep Miami peacock trip for years but due to me always working 6-7 days a week, we never had the time. It's a 3.5 hr drive for us. Well I finally got the promotion and transfer at work I've been working for and now only work 4-5 days a week. I finally got to take him! We struggled to find them early on but around 2pm we finally got on them good. Not only did he out fish me but he caught the biggest of the day as well. I've never felt such a hard fighting fish pound for pound!

Devil's horse

Where are you seeing aluminum gearing for that reel? I have 2 on pre-order at the moment and plan to use one for frogging and one for flipping/punching in heavy cover. Time will tell I suppose.

The SLX XT is pretty tiny and it's still a 150 capacity spool. Also, the Curado 70 MGL is another great choice.